amy – PlayStation.Bloghttp://blog.us.playstation.com
Official PlayStation Blog for news and video updates on PS4, PS3, PSN, PS Vita, PSPSat, 10 Dec 2016 00:26:18 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cropped-PS-Bug-32x32.jpgamy – PlayStation.Bloghttp://blog.us.playstation.com
3232Amy Returns to the Roots of Survival Horrorhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/15/amy-returns-to-the-roots-of-survival-horror/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/15/amy-returns-to-the-roots-of-survival-horror/#commentsThu, 15 Dec 2011 16:00:28 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=66010PlayStation.Blog and its readers for supporting Amy for several months now. As we get closer to the release of the game, which will be early next year, we wanted answer a question that has been asked many times: what kind of survival-horror game is Amy? How do players cope with enemies? What kind of weapons can you use?
As you can see, Amy is not about giving you huge power against enemies and giving players an action-oriented experience. Amy goes back to the roots of the survival-horror genre, and provides edge-of-your-seat suspense that will keep you wondering what’s around the next corner.
]]>First of all, we’d like to thank the PlayStation.Blog and its readers for supporting Amy for several months now. As we get closer to the release of the game, which will be early next year, we wanted answer a question that has been asked many times: what kind of survival-horror game is Amy? How do players cope with enemies? What kind of weapons can you use?

To answer those questions and more, we created the following video just for you:

As you can see, Amy is not about giving you huge power against enemies and giving players an action-oriented experience. Amy goes back to the roots of the survival-horror genre, and provides edge-of-your-seat suspense that will keep you wondering what’s around the next corner.

While most games in the genre choose to either be action- or combat-based, or instill fear by making players feel vastly less powerful than their enemies, Amy combines the best of both worlds. Paul Cuisset, the man behind Amy (and classic games such as Flashback), wanted to a new dimension, which is the cooperation between Amy and Lana.

Playing as Lana, you will have to decide whether you want to hide and avoid combat, or fight by using whatever weapons you can find. As highlighted in the last video, you can use Lana’s vulnerability to the infection to walk amongst enemies undetected, or use Amy’s special abilities, which you can see a glimpse of at the end of this video.

This makes you consider many options before trying to fight: hiding, asking Amy to go away, or using her special powers to defeat your opponents. But as we like to encourage players to exercise their right to choose, if you want to fight, go ahead and try. You won’t always be able to win, but those who don’t try will never know…

If you want to be get all the news about Amy, videos and goodies, please follow us on Facebook and click on Like. Thank you.

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/12/15/amy-returns-to-the-roots-of-survival-horror/feed/23http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/5684768707_9f4a9010aa_z.jpg4.07Lexis Numérique2313Surviving the Horror of Amy: Salvation is Within Reachhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/11/03/surviving-the-horror-of-amy-salvation-is-within-reach/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/11/03/surviving-the-horror-of-amy-salvation-is-within-reach/#commentsThu, 03 Nov 2011 19:29:02 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=63384AMY for some time now and have been giving us tremendous support - we sincerely thank you for that. Others are just discovering this original upcoming PSN survival-horror game for the first time. What none of you have seen is the actual gameplay that lies at the heart of the game: the very unique relationship between Amy and Lana, our lead character.
When you mention ‘a very unique relationship’ in a video game, it may bring to mind ICO, a game that many of us consider a milestone in video game history. The recent re-release of the HD version by PlayStation brought back many memories for us. The first time you finished ICO, what remained was great emotional depth and a rare feeling of empathy for Yorda, the young woman you try to protect. Before playing ICO, the simple idea of protecting a non-playable character seemed tedious and dull. And yet, in ICO, you never had the feeling of doing a long escort mission. You really wanted to protect her.]]>PlayStation fans have been following the development of AMY for some time now and have been giving us tremendous support – we sincerely thank you for that. Others are just discovering this original upcoming PSN survival-horror game for the first time. What none of you have seen is the actual gameplay that lies at the heart of the game: the very unique relationship between Amy and Lana, our lead character.

When you mention ‘a very unique relationship’ in a video game, it may bring to mind ICO, a game that many of us consider a milestone in video game history. The recent re-release of the HD version by PlayStation brought back many memories for us. The first time you finished ICO, what remained was great emotional depth and a rare feeling of empathy for Yorda, the young woman you try to protect. Before playing ICO, the simple idea of protecting a non-playable character seemed tedious and dull. And yet, in ICO, you never had the feeling of doing a long escort mission. You really wanted to protect her.

In Amy, we didn’t try to ape ICO and the two games are quite different; each developer has its own references, world, and vision. But one thing is the same: the constant effort to create empathy for the secondary character. As Lana, a young woman in a city infested by zombies and monstrous creatures, you try to protect Amy, an 8-year old girl that doesn’t seem to talk. Lana is infected and fights against a virus that threatens to transform her into a mindless beast. Only Amy, unexpectedly, can temporary heal her so that they have to stand by each other.

The bond between the two characters is made visible by the way they look at each other, by the way one can protect the other, but also by the way they hold each other’s hand.

The hand that you take when you want Amy to follow you is at the heart of the game. In many occasions, it even means salvation in your extremely hostile environment: when holding Amy’s hand, you can hear her heart beat and you can even feel it (with a rumble controller). When she feels a close danger, you can be sure that fear is conveyed directly into your hand, especially when you know you’re about to fight a fierce enemy.

In the exclusive video we’ve just made, you can see how the two behave and cooperate with each other. Our core focus was to try to make you want to keep Amy safe. If you want to learn more about Amy, you can see our previous video about Lana’s infection here. Please check out our official site for more details and support us on Facebook. Thanks for reading!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/11/03/surviving-the-horror-of-amy-salvation-is-within-reach/feed/49http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/5684768707_9f4a9010aa_z.jpg4.18Lexis Numérique4910Amy: The Faces of Horrorhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/09/02/amy-the-faces-of-horror/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/09/02/amy-the-faces-of-horror/#commentsFri, 02 Sep 2011 19:05:11 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=58317Amy, you probably know that we’re trying to make a unique survival-horror game for PSN. As explained in my previous post, we’re working hard to bring a different gameplay based on a deep interaction between Lana, a young woman who is the lead character, and Amy, an eight year-old child, set in a horrific environment. Soon, we’ll give you many more details on some of the key elements of the gameplay.
But for now, we wanted to show you that, even for a downloadable game, we’re trying our best to bring you real flesh-and-blood characters. You can meet two of them in the new videos below.
First, a quick primer on the world of Amy. It’s 2035, and global warming has intensified beyond mankind’s control.]]>

If you’ve been following the development of Amy, you probably know that we’re trying to make a unique survival-horror game for PSN. As explained in my previous post, we’re working hard to bring a different gameplay based on a deep interaction between Lana, a young woman who is the lead character, and Amy, an eight year-old child, set in a horrific environment. Soon, we’ll give you many more details on some of the key elements of the gameplay.

But for now, we wanted to show you that, even for a downloadable game, we’re trying our best to bring you real flesh-and-blood characters. You can meet two of them in the new videos below.

First, a quick primer on the world of Amy. It’s 2035, and global warming has intensified beyond mankind’s control. Floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are claiming lives with increasing regularity. And in Silver City, the site of a recent comet impact, a mysterious viral outbreak has begun transforming a large percentage of the populace into horrific monstrosities. This is the final straw for Father John, a priest in Silver City: He’s convinced that the outbrerak is final proof that Armageddon is near. From his shelter-church, he tries to organize the human survivors to resist what he sees as a demonic invasion. The second character, Professor Raymond, is much more mysterious. Lana, the lead character of Amy, often refers to Raymond when speaking on the phone with another mysterious character, Lavigna – a woman she seems to rely on.

As you can see in the videos above, our goal is to create characters that convey emotions and that show their feelings physically, not just through dialogue or scenarios. Moreso than any other genre, horror games are based on what characters want – not just what they are doing.

For secondary characters, it might be ok to take a more traditional approach, to make them what you’d expect. But for the primary characters, facial features, expressions and the way they move are things we spent a lot of time on. Above all else, one of the most important aspects lies in their eyes. As you can see from the video, Father John’s eyes are not only highly detailed, but appear very human – at least, as close as we could get! And this is not just a technical and artistic challenge; the subtlety of human expression has a real impact in the game, especially for Amy and Lana.

As you probably already know, Amy is impaired – she doesn’t speak. Hence, in order for Amy to communicate with the player, her body language and facial expressions are of critical importance. If Amy sees a gruesome creature behind you, she won’t have to yell: you will know, just by looking at her face and body language, that she’s terrified.

Stay tuned for more details on Amy. In the meantime, support us on Facebook and check out the official website. See you soon!

]]>http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/09/02/amy-the-faces-of-horror/feed/61http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/amy1.jpg4Lexis Numérique615Amy is Survival Horror Evolved, Coming to PSN This Summerhttp://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/06/20/amy-is-survival-horror-evolved-coming-to-psn-this-summer/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/06/20/amy-is-survival-horror-evolved-coming-to-psn-this-summer/#commentsMon, 20 Jun 2011 13:00:12 +0000http://blog.us.playstation.com/?p=53060Red Johnson’s Chronicles on PSN, we’re excited to be publishing Amy on PSN later in 2011. Amy is the upcoming game from Paul Cuisset, who may be a familiar name for some of you; In the early 90s Paul created Flashback, a classic game that is credited today as a great source of inspiration by respected game designers.
With Amy, we’re now bringing Paul’s innovative concepts to PS3 owners with a new development philosophy that bridges the gap between innovative indie PSN games and very ambitious Blu-ray titles.
Dark Days
The story begins on a rainy December day in 2034. Global warming is in full swing, spreading diseases and natural disasters all around the world. ]]>

If you’re into new survival-horror experiences, this post is for you! After recently releasing Red Johnson’s Chronicles on PSN, we’re excited to be publishing Amy on PSN later in 2011. Amy is the upcoming game from Paul Cuisset, who may be a familiar name for some of you; In the early 90s Paul created Flashback, a classic game that is credited today as a great source of inspiration by respected game designers.

With Amy, we’re now bringing Paul’s innovative concepts to PS3 owners with a new development philosophy that bridges the gap between innovative indie PSN games and very ambitious Blu-ray titles.

Dark Days

The story begins on a rainy December day in 2034. Global warming is in full swing, spreading diseases and natural disasters all around the world. You play as Lana, a character who regains consciousness following a comet impact in the small town of Silver City. Upon awakening, you discover that Silver City has descended into chaos. Violence, fury, rage, wreckage and death: the world you knew has been torn to Hell.

Struck by a mysterious virus, most of the townspeople have transformed into gruesome creatures and now prowl the streets as a wild horde. You’re wounded and you know you must escape, but you’re infected and the viral process has already begun: Hell is now pumping through your veins. There are only two ways to survive the infection. One is by locating special medical equipment found on the corpses of soldiers who have invaded Silver City. The other lies with Amy.

Unlikely Alliance

By your side is a strange little girl named Amy, who can’t speak but whose face expresses both fear and sadness. While you’re fleeing and trying to protect her, you realize that being close to her stops the contamination and even temporarily heals you. That might be the reason why infected humans, grisly creatures, Special Forces combatants and even other survivors are after the two of you. To stay alive, you will have to help each other.

But contrary to many games with a secondary character, Amy is neither a super warrior nor a docile character that follows you. You can use her small size and weight to reach inaccessible areas and ask her to do specific actions. Being a child, Amy is also naturally curious and will explore the environment with you – sometimes she might even draw your attention to something you would have missed.

More importantly, Amy possesses several special abilities. By pressing R1, you can hold her hand. This enables you to heal, but also lets you feel Amy’s heartbeat through the rumble of the DualShock 3, which lets you feel her stress level while you explore dangerous locations. This might be very useful, even if holding her hand slows you down. Amy also has several other special abilities that I’m not going to detail now…but trust me, you will like them.

Survival Stealth

Your overall goal is to escape with Amy, and find a safe shelter to save her (we call this mechanic “exfiltration”). You’ll hide, run, fight, solve puzzles and use cunning, and you will often be free to choose your tactics. In addition, while you progress, you will meet different characters and explore the special bond between Amy and Lana.

One of our goals is to make you feel the fragility of Lana and Amy. Lana is not trained to fight; Amy is just a kid. But you can try to avoid your enemies, for example, by hiding in a closet or under a table. While hiding, you can spy on your pursuers…but be careful!

Another option is to use your infection to your advantage. When you show signs of infection, most of the enemies won’t attack you if you move slowly. But you will have to avoid the soldiers, who will shoot you on sight, and you’ll need to stop the infection before it‘s too late. Most of the enemies are able to communicate with each other so if one spots you, the others will rush in to attack. If you’re clever, you can exploit their intelligence to deceive them and trigger a fight between soldiers and infected humans.

But being smart won’t be enough. When cornered, you’ll need to gather your courage and fight back tooth and nail because your enemies are fierce. Although you have an inventory, you won’t be choosing between tons of items: You will have to make do with small weapons: clubs, crowbars and the like. Lana only carries light items with her and uses only one weapon at a time. In a pinch, you can sometimes use the environment to your advantage, for instance by attracting an enemy into a water puddle and electrifying it.

Amy’s Atmosphere

We’ve also worked hard on the script to provide you with a fully coherent experience. From a train station, to a hospital, going through a subway or the dark streets of Silver City, you will discover a unique atmosphere with Amy.

Finally, I’d like to share a worldwide exclusive video with you, a video we’ve just made to show off the game’s visuals and atmosphere. We will soon be releasing a new video demonstrating certain gameplay moments, so stay tuned! You can watch the video at the top of this blog post.